Pardot Integration Mini-Series #2: Salesforce to Pardot Sync

Salesforce to Pardot Sync

In my first post I wrote about how Pardot creates new records in Salesforce that originate in Pardot. Records can enter Pardot in a number of ways including by filling out a landing page/form, or from a manual import. The other entry point for a Prospect record in Pardot is by a Lead or Contact record being created in Salesforce. For instance, your sales reps may import a list of business cards into Salesforce after attending a conference or manually create a new Lead record from a hot prospect who calls in. Whatever the case may be, it is critical to pass Lead/Contact information back to Pardot to keep both systems in sync.

Sync Options

Out-of-box there are 2 main sync options. You can choose to sync everything in Salesforce back to Pardot, or you can add a “Send to Pardot” button on Lead and Contact pages. When the button is clicked that Lead or Contact record is pushed from Salesforce and a new Prospect record is created in Pardot (if there is not already a Prospect record with that email address in Pardot already). A third option, which requires custom setup is the ability to sync certain Leads or Contact of your Salesforce database back to Pardot.

Sync Everything Option

To sync everything from Salesforce ensure you select the first checkbox when configuring the Salesforce connector in Pardot. Also, be sure to create a Created from Salesforce Campaign in Pardot to tag all Prospects with that Campaign so you know where they came in from.

Pro Tip: Be sure that the ‘Automatically Create’ Prospects box is checked and a Campaign is selected the first time you create the Salesforce connector and save it. Otherwise, Prospects will not backfill into Pardot and you have to export them from salesforce and import them manually into Pardot.

Manual Sync Option

Screenshot of Send to Pardot button for manual integration

The manual sync is pretty straightforward and does not require any major setup. The key component here is ensuring that the ‘Send to Pardot’ button is all Lead and Contact page layouts.

Sync Partial Option

The third sync option is a custom option to partially sync certain segments of your Salesforce Lead/Contact database with Pardot. A pre-requisite for this option is to have a dedicated Salesforce license for the Salesforce-Pardot integration user. Many small businesses do not like this option because it is an additional cost for an additional Salesforce license. However, you must also weight that cost of your Pardot prospect storage. Pardot charges in increments of 10,000 Prospect records, so you will need to weigh the cost of more Pardot storage to sync everything against the cost of an additional Salesforce license. For companies with multiple divisions, or with large Salesforce databases it makes sense to partially sync.

To implement the partial sync you must also change the security model of your Salesforce org to private for Leads and Contacts, and then use sharing rules to show the integration user the records that it should sync, and hide those that it should not sync. Check out this webinar from Pardot on how to setup the partial sync.

Other Details on the Integration

Additional items regarding the integration to note include:

The Owner of the Lead or Contact record in Salesforce will be the ‘Assigned to’ user in Pardot provided that you have created your Salesforce Users in Pardot and mapped their CRM username correctly on their Pardot user record. This is useful for marketing departments who send emails out in their sales reps’ names.

Salesforce is always the system-of-record by default. Changes that occur in Salesforce will sync back to Pardot. If marketing makes a change in Pardot and then notice their change is overwritten it is likely because Salesforce is the system-of-record. Field sync settings can be modified by going to Admin –> Prospect Fields –> Click on the gear next to the field and then choose the desired sync setting.

Thanks for reading. If you have questions about the Salesforce to Pardot sync please leave them in the comments below. Happy marketing!